Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Lily Update

Lily turned three about a month ago. Three has definitely been more different than two! Her little personality is coming out even more. I feel like up until this point she has mainly been focused on developing physical skills and now it's emotional/intellectual skills that are coming to the fore.

Enjoying her new playset.

Lily is obsessed with all things ballet. Just today, she was practicing "ballet" in one of her ballerina outfits that her Aunt Jaci and Uncle Daniel got her for her birthday. I was showing her how to do an arabesque, and she tried and tried but just doesn't have the coordination yet to stand one leg and put the other leg straight behind her. I did not put any pressure on her and was really trying to have some fun with her (especially since Daniel was napping and my one-on-one time with her is precious, we focus on fun during these times). But she cried! She cried because she couldn't do it perfectly the first time. This is a tendency I have noticed in her for a while and it really clicked with me today. And she is just like her mommy in that regard. So it seems we have a little perfectionist on our hands. It took me a long time to realize that things are worth doing even if they don't turn out perfectly. I hope she realizes it earlier than I did!

Other things Lily is doing:

She understands and speaks in complex sentences. We stopped counting her words a long time ago, but they are surely over 1000 at this point.

She loves playing pretend and can do this pretty much all day. In addition to pretending that she herself is a mommy, ballerina, princess, etc, she also plays with little dolls, making them talk and do things. Her imagination really surprises and impresses me. My favorite thing she does is when she tells me stories about the things her babies or dolls have been doing. She has and can play alone for long periods of time, but prefers a playmate.

She loves books and reading and especially loves being read to by her Dad. Her favorite book to ask me to read currently is a Sesame Street book about opposites.

The past few weeks she has been writing her name. I have yet to get a picture of it, and she is also being a perfectionist about it. The last time she wrote it perfectly she wrote it in yellow crayon, which I could not get to show up well on my camera. I am watching carefully for its next appearance so I can share. :-)

She is also starting to draw humanoid figures, which was recently spurred by watching her friend Oliver draw them. She continues to be very motivated by her peers. Which can be both bad and good, definitely something to pay attention to.

She was potty trained around February of this year (also peer motivated by her classmates), and while she will sometimes have an occasional (maybe twice a month) pee accident, she is doing great. The accidents are 100% because she is so absorbed in playing that she doesn't want to stop to pee. She does not need a diaper at night at all.

She really seems to understand how families work (think family tree) and understands that Grandma is Mommy's mom, and Kyle is Mommy's brother, etc. It is pretty cool to quiz her and be impressed by what she remembers and understands. Family seems very important to her and she seems to especially have a special bond with her aunts and uncles. It is fun to watch. :-)

She has a great sense of direction and can almost always tell where we are going in the car by the landmarks we pass on the way.

She is starting to pretend her crayons are makeup. This morning before a
playdate I caught her pretending to put makeup on with her crayons. I
about died it was so cute. She never (and I do mean never) gets to wear
mommy's makeup because I think makeup on little girls is weird, but her
desire to wear it is adorable. She also likes having polished toenails and bugs me when hers starts to chip.

She loves other little kids and really looks forward to playdates. She is majorly excited for "school" to start in September. She is also beginning a ballet class late next week.

Her favorite food continues to be macaroni and cheese. She is a pretty typical kid as far as her taste in food goes!

She continues to be very girly, if it wasn't already obvious to you. I put her in leggings and shirt for a playdate this morning and she insisted on changing into a dress when we got home.

She loves her little brother and thinks he's the coolest.

We have read her a few children's books about kids with Down syndrome but haven't really come out and told her that Daniel has it yet. I'm not sure how to approach it with her, really, so I am kind of just letting it happen right now. They are both too young for any major differences to be apparent, but I am hoping to start having playdates with more families who have kids with Down syndrome soon, so I'm sure she will eventually ask me in some way. She is very perceptive. She has asked me about people with guide dogs and wheelchairs before so I'm expecting it at some point.

Future attachment parent. :-) Also you can see our new carpet in this picture!

Some funny/cute/interesting things she's been saying/doing lately:

"Mommy, can you do me a flavor?" (can you do me a favor)

"When I get big, I'm going to marry Oliver!" (her friend)

"Asher (another friend) can come to ballet so he can lift me up!"
(apparently this is the only use for male ballet dancers in her mind)

Like any toddler, bathroom humor is very appreciated. I'll spare you the details, though if you read my Facebook you might occasionally read some pretty funny anecdotes.

"I love baby Daniel so so so so so much! He's so cute!"

To me she looks a lot like her Uncle Kyle. Anyone else think so?

Lily is such a sweet little girl, and blesses me every day. I could not think of a better daughter, granddaughter, or sibling. Like Daniel, we feel so lucky she's ours. :-)

"Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall
eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than
the meat: and the body more than the raiment?

Behold the
birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather
into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much
more value than they?

And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature by one cubit?

And for raiment
why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they
grow: they labour not, neither do they spin.

But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these."